Welcome to donduk. A refuge for those who enjoy Deal or No Deal, the hit Channel 4 gameshow hosted by Noel Edmonds. The award winning gameshow Deal or No Deal has become a big hit for Channel 4 and marks a sensational return to our screens of Noel Edmonds.

Deal or No Deal is enjoyed my millions of viewers daily, where the contestants battle with The Banker to try and win a jackpot of £250,000. Here at donduk you will find full daily reports of each show, as well Deal or No Deal news and specials. Deal or No Deal although initially appearing very simple in format of just opening a few boxes for the chance to win some big money prizes, actually has some potentially complex decisions to be made at points throughout the show, the contestants occasionally try complex or simple gameplay in an attempt to give them an edge in beating the Banker.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Melanie's Game

Hi guys, Adie here with Tuesday's game report, good to have you with us! Make yourselves comfortable, dim the lights, stretch out on the chaise-lounge, reach for your tipple of choice and settle down for the afternoon's proceedings...

As my original slot here was to be "stats man" I should kick off with a quick word about last week's games, which to be quite honest were rather unremarkable, at least in terms of the amounts won by last week's contestants... For a start, the average win - at £12,250 - was virtually identical to the average final box value of £12,208, so if all of the players had gone through to the end, we'd have had pretty much the same result (though Eileen wouldn't have been pleased, having won £16,500 for a 50p box!)

Perhaps more interesting (and worrying) is that the long-term trend for the average win across the whole series in heading inexorably downwards, and is now at just over £16,000, whereas only a few months ago it was over £17,500... This seems to be down to two factors - on one hand more cautious play in general as contestants get to know the intimacies of the game, leading some players to deal at a less than optimal time for fear of losing everything (perfectly reasonable bearing in mind some of the "crash & burn" games we've witnessed over the months.) On the other hand we see a lot of "damn-the-torpedoes" players, pretty determined to go to the final endgame, which more often tends to end in disaster...

What's really fascinating about this last group is that they mostly tend to carry on to the bitter end only if they're having a bad game, most obviously highlighted by the fact that the average "final box value" is almost £22,000, so if everyone just went to the final box, they'd theoretically win 35% more! Just over half of contestants actually win more than is in their final box though, again emphasising that it tends to be the bad games that end up at the "endgame" (don't tell £100,000 Gaz though!) Statistically though, we're behind in seeing the £250,000 in a player's box, so maybe this week is The Week!

And talking of the present, let's get going with Tuesday's game... Noel introduces with a looooooooooong pause before "No Deal" in a lilac striped little number, rather more subdued than of late... It seems we've given up on the Wimbledon theme after one day, so no more tennis puns and we're back to the red boxes, but why are all the audience dressed in black? Do they know something we don't?

So let's go through Noel's list - Greet East Wing? Check. Greet West Wing? Check. "Entertainment Drama?" Check. "Pound Table?" Check. "Never sit here again?" Check. There's some reference to "A Night At The Opera" and "A Day At The Races" that I imagine is going to lead us into a Marx Brothers or Queen pun, but it never arrives...

Noel informs us that "the future is about to open up quite literally," though I think he means metaphorically, "for... MELANIE!"

Amid much hugging and applause Mel makes her way from the East Wing, giving the now traditional bows to the wings as she does so, carrying Box 22 (and is it me, or have a lot of players recently had box 22 as their box?)Mel is bubbly and as excited as you'd expect. A rather more unexpected element is the rolling pin she places on her box, of which more later.

If you'd like to picture Mel, imagine Chrissie Hynde if she came from Dagenham rather than Detroit, for Mel is an Essex Girl, and proud of it, as indeed am I, writing this as I am from the depths of deepest Ilford...

Melanie Lucy has been a beautician for 3 years, and tempts OFCOM with a pre-Watershed reference to giving The Banker a "Back, Sack & Crack" treatment, which I can only imagine got through because the editors didn't understand what she meant! She's accompanied by her Mum, Sue, whom I can only describe as exactly how you'd imagine the mother of a Dagenham beautician to look.

Mel's ambition is to buy a farm before she's 40 - Noel's response that she'll have to get a move on to do that in the next year is completely overlooked to his obvious amusement... the rolling pin belongs to her late aunt who died last year, prompting tears and the recollection of the rolling pin which was allegedly used on her uncle's fairground game, "Rolling The Money," and so seemed an appropriate lucky charm... as an aside, I can find no reference to any such game on the interweb, so if anyone can verify this, please do so!

A reference to Mel's pocketfulls of lucky charms later we're into housekeeping (Mel's the first player I can remember to ask who the independent adjudicator is), a nice "You all look beautiful" from Mel to the Wings, and we're off!

ROUND 1Paul (Box 13) - £250Janelle (10) - £50Connell (7) - £10Monica (9) - £1This is looking great, and Noel reminds us (after wondering why everyone's speaking like an extra from Eastenders) that only Aaron & Michelle have had all-blue first rounds to date... but inevitably...Nick (Box 2) - £10,000Still a great first round though - "great innit?" in Mel's words in fact! The Banker says he's always wanted to meet a woman who wants a big fat potbellied pig (in reference to her farming ambitions), mentioning that although he has an average amount of hair, it's "rather haphazardly distributed..." Noel manages to squeeze out the offer between giggles - £9,100, which isn't too bad at all, but Mel asks for the question straight away, and it's no deal!

ROUND 2Linda B (Box 5) - £3,000Lance (3) - £5 (today's new boy, an avuncular gent whose "posh" accent is contrasted with Mel's Essex tones for comical effect)"Do you know how good this is?" asks Noel... "I'm always good" says Mel cheekily, and Noel sends us off for a break, returning with...Buddy (16) - £75,000Massed "ooohs" from the audience, though Mel isn't bothered as she still has the "two bad boys" in the running... The Banker is scared she'll spend all his money on a pig and offers her £15,500, exactly what Ryan won yesterday... with barely a pause, Mel asks for The Question, and it's a "thank you, but no deal!"

ROUND 3Alan (6) - 50pChris (18) - 10pDebbie (17) - 1pWow! The best possible round, the 3 lowest boxes taken out, what are the odds of that happening? Actually 1 in 364, but I digress... Noel's right, it's "an amazing scenario," and we see Mel mouthing the words "I love you all" to the Wings (lip-reading is all part of the service here at DOND Fanatics - accept no substitute!) while The Banker phones in his offer of a great-for-round-3 £30,000! To everyone's shock (especially Sally's), Mel immediately asks for The Question, and Noel leans in close for emphasis as he asks it... "£30,000... Deal... Or No Deal...?"... and Mel shocks us all with a cheery "Deal!"

Now I reckon that's only the 2nd ever round 3 deal, but would welcome any corroboration on that... well, we've seen so many games collapse after great early offers, no-one can begrudge Mel her £30,000, even with 8 reds against 3 blues on the board, including the £100,000 and £250,000... Noel asks those in the audience who are surprised to stand up, and they nearly all do, as do a few of us watching at home... by now, Mel's in tears, telling us she only wanted £500 and a good time, and didn't want to write it in the book as it would seem funny.. only now as we go into the break does she seem to realise that she might have £250,000 in her box... could she have made a huge mistake...?

So we return to Noel hyping us up for all we're worth, telling us that in 212 games he's never seen a contestant so much in turmoil after accepting a deal, so how would have the game panned out?

(HYPOTHETICAL) ROUND 4Amy (8) - £750 (to massed "ooooohs" from the audience)Roy (11) - £250,000 - YES! A big hug for Roy and more tears from MelAshok (4) - £20,000It's still a strong board despite the big one going, and would have gotten an offer of £14,000, which Mel might have turned down if her mother hadn't been there...

(HYPOTHETICAL) ROUND 6Pierre (19) - £5,000Linda E (21) £50,000 - YES! (again again!) More hugs, tears and applause, this really couldn't have gone much better...Vic (14) - £500Noel advises Mel to calm down before someone brings in a straitjacket, and passes on the offer of £400, which she would have refused, and we finally head into...

(HYPOTHETICAL) ROUND 7Just 2 boxes left, with £100 or £1,000... Noel opens Mel's box 22 to reveal... £100! The perfect finish! As tables are thumped and Sally (in tears herself) opens box 20 to show the £1,000, Mel announces she's going to buy a few ducks for her farm with the money to start with, and buy the rest of the animals later...

A perfectly judged game from Mel, enjoyment of which was only slightly hampered by the very quick resolution... she may not have had Aaron's bookie background, but she was an excellent contestant and got the same great result by learning from other's mistakes and not being greedy and having the courage to deal early... but what did you expect? Essex Girls always come first... 'til next time, NO DEAL!